Secrets behind mysterious century-old WWI memorial in trendy Williamsburg nabe thats now neglected and abandoned

A tiny green refuge in Brooklyn honoring locals who died fighting in World War I is tucked away in a 3,000-square-foot park – mysteriously padlocked most days and hidden under overgrown brush.Few get to enjoy the city-owned Memorial Gore’s beauty since its biggest backers died, as the Williamsburg park remains in a state of neglect and indefinitely shuttered – save for special events like Armistice Day or Memorial Day.When the park — anchored by a stone monument honoring 83 local soldiers who died in the war — first fell into disrepair in the early 1980s, community activists Guido and Tish Cianciotta helped restore it to its former glory, even replacing a stolen eagle atop the monument sculpted by the Piccirilli Brothers of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.“Tish and Guido [Cianciotta], they used to be the ones really putting forth the effort to clean it up – certainly, it looked better when they were alive,” said Paul Kelterborn of the neighborhood group Friends of Cooper Park. But in the years since the couple died in 2021 and 2023, respectively, the park — located at the busy intersection of Bushwick, Metropolitan and Maspeth avenues — has become overgrown and poorly maintained, locals told The Post.“We’re not really honoring the memory of those who died with how it is currently,” said Kelterborn whose group has worked to advocate for the park in recent months.The gore is managed by NYC Parks, but budget cuts by the Adams administration has caused the memorial, alongside other smaller city parks, to become neglected, Kelterborn said.NYC Parks did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how long the park has been padlocked or why it’s mostly unavailable to the public.The city purchased the park in 1894 for $2,500.Though Friends of Cooper Park has contributed small beautification efforts like planting daffodils at the park, Kelterborn insisted a larger effort needs to be made by the city.“This mayor has taken a l...